Vertical SaaS, AI & FinTech that Powers Small Business GDP
Small businesses comprise nearly half (46%) of the American labor force and account for 44% of the country's GDP. In the past 25 years, small businesses have created more than 12.9 million jobs, representing around two-thirds of all new jobs added to the U.S. economy during this period. - Forbes
Investment & Advisory Portfolio
mission
EQJ Ventures focuses on vertical SaaS and vertical AI companies that are in the early stage of growth innovation (seed and/or series A-C) which are Multi-Product From Go (MPFG). MPFG companies quickly get to $100m+ ARR by having a hyper focused Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and launching many products (e.g., add-ons, AI agents, etc.) early in their journey and leveraging technology from partnerships (e.g., FinTech & Embedded Tech) to quickly scale.
There are 36M+ small businesses in the U.S., including 6M employer businesses growing ~2–3% annually. With AI lowering operational complexity, we may finally see real acceleration in SMB formation and scale. TAMs once defined by $5k ACV customers are now becoming $50k+ opportunities when you combine VSaaS + AI + FinTech + EmbeddedTech. Hyper-vertical system of actions (SoAs) will define the next decade!
EQJ Ventures is drawn to software companies that either become the operating backbone of an SMB or deliver a focused AI solution that meaningfully improves how the business runs.
focus
Vertical | Horizontal
Vertical SaaS & vertical AI that focuses on a specific industry and many sub categories within that industry (e.g., the Trades and many sub-categories within the trades like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, mechanical, roofing, flooring, water treatment, lawn, pest control, etc.).
Vertical | Vertical
Vertical SaaS & vertical AI that focuses on a specific industry and just one or a few very close adjacents (e.g., the Trades and one specific vertical or a few tied to one like roofing + gutter). Over time, the strongest platforms can become a primary system of action for a large portion of the market.
FinTech | EmbeddedTech
Financial technology and other embedded solutions that help power vertical SaaS businesses (e.g., payments, capital, payroll, spend management, accounting, marketing, fuel cards, etc.).
impact
01 - TAM Expansion
Is my current TAM enough? What are the best markets to enter to grow TAM efficiently? How do I appropriately evaluate other markets and S&M/R&D attention vs. my current market?
02 - ACV Growth
Should I go up-market? What are the best add-on products to create and how do I do this - buy, build, partner? What products/features should I build to get more users/customer?
03 - GTM Acceleration
How do I construct my inbound, outbound and up-sell teams? How do partnerships fit into our growth? How much inbound ARR can channel partnerships create and how do I prioritize partners?
